Page 54 of Orange Spell
“Well, I’m going,” Taylor said as he stepped out of the apartment.“Marlin, let me know if you need anything from me.”
Marlin could only nod.His full focus was on Curran, and as soon as the door closed behind Taylor, he pulled Curran into his arms.Curran came easily, snuggling against him.“Not that I don’t like this, but there’s no need for you to worry,” he said.“She really didn’t do anything.”
“Her being close to you is enough.”
“Well, she’s not right now.You can relax.”
Marlin didn’t think he’d be able to relax until Pearl was permanently taken care of, but he didn’t want to scare Curran.He was already going through enough.“All right.How about instead of moving your stuff, we take the rest of the day to relax?”
Curran leaned back to look up at Marlin.“It’s not necessary.”
“It might not be necessary, but I still want to do it.Besides, you need to tell me what happened with Palmer.I’ll make sure to be there for your next visit.”
“Nothing much.He checked me and the egg, and everything’s fine.Honestly, it was more amusing to watch him and Deryn try not to stare at each other over my stomach.”
Marlin smiled.“Oh?You think there’s something there?”
“Iknowthere’s something there, at least on Deryn’s side.”
“You’re not thinking of doing something about it, are you?”
“Now, why would I do that?I have more than enough things on my plate to focus on already.”
“You do, but I know you.I’m pretty sure that as soon as this egg is out of you, you’re going to turn your focus on Deryn.”
“There won’t be much else for me to do while we wait for the egg to hatch.”Because Marlin would still need to work, but Curran had decided to stop working until the egg hatched at the very least.
“Maybe talk to Deryn about it first?”Marlin suggested.He didn’t want them to fight because of something stupid.He’d be there for Curran as much as he could, but Curran would need the other people in his life, too, including Deryn.
Curran wrinkled his nose.“You know how Deryn is.He thinks he’s not good enough or something like that.It’s stupid.”
“I’m not going to argue that, but still.This isn’t something you want to surprise him with, especially if he’s resistant.”
“Fine,” Curran said with a sigh.“I’ll talk to him before doing anything.I might drag him to every visit I have with Palmer, though.Unless you have anything to say about that?”
Marlin chuckled and buried his face against Curran’s purple hair.“Probably not.”
“You know, I wouldn’t have given up plotting this for anyone but you,” Curran said as he reached upward to kiss Marlin.“I don’t know what you’ve done to me, but I’m not sure I like it.”
“You love it.You loveme.”It always gave Marlin a thrill when he thought about it.Curran loved him.
“You have me under your spell,” Curran murmured.
“Good.That’s where you need to be.”
